WHEN SPEAKING of stereotypes in the United States, it is common for Caucasians to want to be included in the discussion. Many people will argue that they -- that is to say, whites -- are also susceptible to racism, ethnic jokes and stereotypical prejudice. There is a vast difference, however, between the non-restrictive stereotypes that pester whites, and the restraining, inescapable images that are projected onto other ethnic groups.
One assumes, for example, that white people can't dance. Nevertheless, whites can easily disassociate themselves from the stereotype by taking dancing lessons or by declaring dance to be irrelevant to them. A stereotype that can be dispatched with little difficulty, such as this one, is not restrictive, as the person does indeed have a choice.
In contrast, the stereotypes attached to the groups that universities generally refer to as ALANA (African American/Latino/Asian American/Native American) are almost impossible to escape. For example, in a recent study, one Latina student told anthropologist Bonnie Urciuoli, "The only thing that bothered me is automatically it was assumed that just because my writing wasn't very good it had to be because I'm Latina and my first language is Spanish, which is not true. It could just mean that I didn't learn the proper way to write an essay...or that day I was just like whatever about the paper. It could've been so many other things."
The stereotype that bilingual Latinos think in Spanish and then have to translate into English can't be proven wrong, and thus Hispanics in the United States find themselves constantly having to prove their English competence to their monolingual peers.
And it works the other way, too. Because of the undeviating idea that Latinos have a darker skin color and a pronounced accent, light-skinned individuals that show no accent in their English are automatically assumed to be white, rather than Hispanic.
White people may profess that they too are victims of prejudice, but the fact remains that they are the majority and the connotations associated with that word will never be the same as those linked to the word "minority." Whites may claim that African-Americans are as racist towards whites as they are to them, but whites were the free dominant people, while for much of American history, enslaved African-Americans had little chance to dispute the stereotypes that degraded them.
The University is not immune to this, either. "It's very easy to argue that whites stereotype blacks and blacks stereotype whites, but they have different consequences in day to day life," explains University Anthropology Prof. Richard Handler. Handler continues, "Students of color routinely, I think, experience discrimination by students who think their only reason for being here is affirmative action. Nobody questions a white's right to be here."
This is due, in part, by the common misconception that it's easier for minorities to get into college, particularly one that is primarily white, such as the University.
All stereotypes are different and it is impossible to compare them. It is clear, however, that it is possible to compare them in regard, not to the stereotype per se, but in the opportunities presented for contesting them.
Whites, as the ethnic majority in the States, are not as subject to racial restriction as other ethnicities. Yes, they can argue that they are also victims of stereotypes and ethnic jokes. But the fact remains that whites, as the majority, still hold more power in society than other races, making it impossible for them to ever be constrained by a stereotype as other ethnic groups are.
Andrea Arango is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint writer.
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